VOA慢速英语--官员们试图找到防止更多校园枪击事件发生的方法

Officials Try to Find Ways to Prevent More School Shootings

Shootings like the one that occurred on November 30 at Oxford¹ High School in Michigan are not uncommon² in the United States. The Oxford shooter killed four students and wounded seven others.

EducationWeek tracks school shootings. It has found 31 shootings this year that had at least one death. A Washington Post investigation³ found that more than 278,000 students have experienced⁴ gun violence at schools since the Columbine High School shooting in April 1999.

School officials, lawmakers and others are trying different ways to prevent school shootings or reduce the number of deaths. Many schools practice "active shooter drills," which are meant to prepare students and staff for a real event. Other schools place police officers in and around their buildings.

In Oxford, the parents of the shooter are being charged with a crime in connection with the killings⁵.

Karen McDonald is the Oxford County⁶ lead prosecutor⁷. She argues that James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of the shooter Ethan Crumbley, could have prevented the attack.

"We should all be looking at the events that led up to that horrific event," McDonald said on American television. "And as a community, as a school, as a nation, talk about what we could have done different so that didn't happen."

On November 30, a teacher found a note written by Ethan with a drawing of a handgun and the message: "The thoughts won't stop. Help me." After a meeting with Crumbley and his parents, school officials thought he was not a risk to other students and could return to class. The parents also refused a request to take him home for the day.

Later that day, Crumbley opened fire on fellow students with a gun his father had given him four days earlier as a gift.

School officials in Oxford are also being investigated to see if their actions could have stopped the shooter. Two legal actions were brought against the Michigan school district Thursday for permitting the shooter to stay in school after he showed signs of very troubling behavior.

Gun control advocates hope the charges against the Crumbley parents will show ways to deal with other school shootings.

Shannon Watts⁸ is the founder⁹ of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, an organization that supports gun control measures. She wrote in The Washington Post that children and students should not be able to access guns. She believes the charges against the Crumbleys will force all gun-owning parents to consider additional¹⁰ safety measures.

Oxford High School had many safety measures in place. Watts wrote, "yet all of these measures weren't enough to stop a school shooting because the student still had access to a gun at home."

The organization Everytown for Gun Safety says 5.4 million children in the U.S. live in a home with a gun.

Active shooter drills

Active shooter drills are common in American schools. During the drills, students practice how to react if a shooter enters the school. Students are taught to lock the doors to the classroom, turn off the lights, sit on the ground, and be quiet.

Oxford County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the drills "saved lives" at Oxford High.

A Washington Post report found that 4 million students went through active shooter drills in 2018. But critics say these drills can traumatize children.

David Riedman is with the National Center for Homeland Defense¹¹ and Security¹². He studies school shootings. He told The Washington Post that the drills did save lives at Oxford, but he believes very realistic shooter drills are not needed.

Gun safety laws

Research has found that more than half of gun owners do not lock up their guns.

Some schools have started sending letters to parents to tell them how to safely keep a gun. One school system in Los Angeles requires parents to sign a notice about gun safety. The Clark County school system in Nevada does something similar.

Maddie Ahmadi is a student in Vermont who led an effort to get her school to send a letter home to parents about safely storing guns.

She told EducationWeek that it is an issue of safety, not politics.

"I'm not telling anyone to stop hunting and I'm not telling anyone to give away their gun; I'm telling them to securely¹³ store them so we can prevent tragedies like what happened in Oxford," she said.

Words in This Story

track — v. to follow and find especially by looking at evidence

drill — n. a physical or mental activity that is done repeatedly¹⁴ in order to learn something, become more skillful¹⁵, etc.

prosecutor — n. a lawyer who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crime and who tries to prove that the person is guilty

advocate — n. a person who argues for or supports a cause or policy

traumatize — v. to cause to become very upset in a way that often leads to serious emotional¹⁶ problems

tragedy — n. a very bad event that causes great sadness and often involves someone's death

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。

7 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

8 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

13 securely   

adv.安心地，安全地；牢固地；被妥善保管地

参考例句：

• She chained the wolf securely to the post.她用铁链把那只狼锁在那根柱子上。
• The straps hold the baby in securely.带子把婴儿安全地系在里面。

14 repeatedly   

adv.重复地，再三地

参考例句：

• The loudspeakers blared the speech repeatedly.扬声器里反复大声地播送那篇演讲。
• He repeatedly beat his foot upon the floor.他反复用脚敲着地板。

15 skillful   

adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Soon they became very skillful in answering such questions.很快他们就会很熟练地回答这种问题了。
• It was very skillful of you to repair my bicycle.你修好了我的自行车，技术真好。

16 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。